Yellow Centerline on Badlands Loop Road

Yellow center line marks a highway stretching through Badlands National Park's eroded buttes and grasslands in South Dakota.
Yellow center line marks a highway stretching through Badlands National Park's eroded buttes and grasslands in South Dakota.

Badlands Loop Road, designated South Dakota Highway 240, winds roughly 31 miles between Interstate 90 near Wall and the town of Interior. The two-lane route passes directly through the park's eroded buttes and pinnacles, formations built from layers of sediment deposited over about 75 million years and shaped by erosion over the last half-million years. Badlands National Park covers 244,000 acres, including the 64,000-acre Badlands Wilderness Area, one of the largest mixed-grass prairie wildernesses in the United States. The National Park Service built the road to provide access to overlooks such as Pinnacles and Yellow Mounds without requiring visitors to leave their vehicles.

Taken July 2019

Photo Part Of
Badlands National Park
Roads, trails, campsites, and grasslands across the North and South Units of Badlands National Park in southwestern South Dakota
11 photos
Map
OpenStreetMap Google Maps
More from Badlands National Park
Dirt Road Through Grasslands Near Sheep Mountain, Badlands National Park
Dirt Road Through Grasslands Near Sheep Mountain, Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park's south unit is laced with unpaved roads like this one, which wind through mixed-grass prairie between the…
Tent Camping Near Badlands National Park in Interior
Tent Camping Near Badlands National Park in Interior
Interior, South Dakota sits just outside the southeast entrance to Badlands National Park, and campgrounds here cater to visitors drawn…
Eroded Spires of the Badlands Wall, South Dakota
Eroded Spires of the Badlands Wall, South Dakota
The Badlands Wall formation stretches roughly 60 miles through Badlands National Park, separating the upper prairie from the lower prairie…
Mixed-Grass Prairie Along Badlands National Park's Northern Boundary
Mixed-Grass Prairie Along Badlands National Park's Northern Boundary
Badlands National Park sits at the edge of a mixed-grass prairie ecosystem, one of the largest protected tracts of this…
A Lonely Stretch of Highway 44 in Badlands National Park
A Lonely Stretch of Highway 44 in Badlands National Park
Highway 44 runs along the southern edge of Badlands National Park, linking the town of Interior to Rapid City and…
Wetland and Ranchland Near Badlands National Park
Wetland and Ranchland Near Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park spans more than 242,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie and eroded rock formations in southwestern South Dakota. The…
Nearby Photos

Built in Minneapolis

Minneapolis Photographer

An ongoing archive of work.

© 1996–2026 Chad Davis